From Maun, you’ll fly to the Makgadikgadi Pans and settle into Jack’s Camp, a 1940s-style oasis in the heart of the shimmering salt pans.

Spend today exploring the pans, meeting the cheeky meerkats and game driving amongst the desert wildlife.

Wildlife

Your expedition will start in the Makgadikgadi, home of the cheekiest creatures of them all – the meerkat. Due to the ongoing habituation programme it’s possible to get up close and personal with the captivating animals and on chilly mornings, you might well find a meerkat snuggling up against you for warmth! On game drives, expect to see springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest and the elusive brown hyena, consummate desert specialists that can survive in arid areas where food and water are scarce.

Rev your engine and traverse the endless pans on quad bike to the Lost Island of the Baobabs, watching the mirages swim and eddy and losing all sense of time and direction. Day four is reserved for Kubu Island; crowned with an array of ancient, gnarled baobabs and surrounded on three sides by a vast grey emptiness, Kubu has a unique atmosphere and is one of the most graphically beautiful spots in Botswana.

Accommodations

On your expedition to Kubu Island, a fly camp will be set up on the magical Lost Island of the Baobabs. You’ll sleep under the stars, surrounded by towering boulders and squat baobabs in the comfiest of bedrolls with the fluffiest of duvets. Water for showers bubbles over the fire and you’ll find a hot water bottle tucked beneath the sheets when sleep finally overcomes. The food prepared at The Lost Island of Baobabs and at Kubu is impeccable; fresh and original dishes are laid out on white tablecloths and served with bone-handled cutlery – and the drinks cabinet is always open. This isn’t a five-star camp; this is a five-gazillion-star camp – and you don’t have to share it with another soul…

Please note that there is no phone signal or internet connection at the Lost Island of the Baobabs and with no electricity either, it’s advisable to bring a fully-charged set of spare camera batteries with you.

Wildlife

Kubu is close to what is probably the biggest Greater flamingo breeding site in the world. When the water level is high, almost 30,000 birds fledge towards the site and although the nests are abandoned during the dry season, the acres of strangely shaped mud mounds are an eerie and compelling sight.

And it’s not just the animals that make this trip so special. How about visits to the mouth of the Zambezi in search of semi-precious stones? Maybe you’d like to explore the dramatic, 400-foot escarpment that signals then end of the staggering Great Rift Valley? Or perhaps clamber to the top of ancient granite boulders for mile upon never-ending mile of jaw-dropping views?

Quad bike back to the comfort of Jack’s (and the swimming pool!) for one last night.

If you’re not departing too early in the morning, spend a little time with the Zu/’hoasi people and share in their fascinating practices and traditions in a gentle introduction to the Bushmen way of life.